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Our Bureau

For distribution of Zee channels in Asia-Pacific

Hyderabad April 16 Goldstone Technologies Ltd has signed up with Asia Today Ltd, Mauritius, a subsidiary of Zee Telefilms Ltd, to distribute Zee Network channels in eight countries in the Asia-Pacific region through Internet Protocol Television (IPTV).

The IPTV services would be operational next month through `TV Origin', initially targeting the non-resident Indian (NRI) community.

The company expects to infuse about $25 million for this initiative, including setting up a digital media lab, its Chief Executive Officer, Goldstone group, Mr N.K. Rawal, told Business Line.

The company said that Goldstone would be able to deliver quality video streaming at 600 kpbs and claimed that it would be the first such service to function on public Internet.

This enables people to watch live channels, content-on-demand and also browse the Internet without a PC.

Mr Rawal said the agreement with Zee Network enables the company to use Zee's extensive reach in expanding IPTV services globally.

Goldstone is setting up a network operating centre in Singapore and the company has signed agreements with several other Indian and European channels for global distribution.

The other important usage is the ability to offer on-demand movies and game shows and serials.

The arrangement with Zee covers its channels Zee Premier, Classic, News, Business, Music, and some regional language fare.

Asked how this stacks up against the growing DTH (direct to home) market, Mr Rawal said that these have different roles and the Goldstone's focus is on the NRIs who do not have access to Indian channels and movies they would like to watch.

The Head of Asia Pacific, International Business, Zee Network, Mr Mukund Cairae, in a statement said that this technology from Goldstone allows them greater access to the Asia-Pacific region through IPTV.

In another development, Goldstone, which has signed up with the State-owned BSNL, plans to provide IPTV services to the latter's broadband customers initially in Hyderabad and later expand to other cities. I

nternet subscribers do not require Internet bandwidth for accessing IPTV services. As a part of this initiative, Mr Rawal said that the company was in the process of setting up a network operating system in Hyderabad.

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